


Awakenings

by WindMeister8



Category: Code Geass
Genre: Awakening, F/M, Geass, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 04:11:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4651806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WindMeister8/pseuds/WindMeister8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taking place before the start of R2, Lelouch has still no memories of when he was Zero. However, he doesn't know that many people from his past are seeking to help him regain his memories. One of them - working alone - has in fact, come incredibly close to aiding him in the recovery of his identity....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awakenings

“Today we’ll be moving on to integration with trigonometric functions. Open up your books to page..”

Lelouch immediately tuned out the drone of his teacher’s voice, opting to read a book on Britannia politics which he placed in between the pages of his math textbook. Calculus was something he had mastered ages ago and it was extremely unchallenging. Nothing in school – from math to literature – seemed to interest him. Even the rhythm of his life was excruciatingly dull. The small illegal gambling matches that he had on the side were just a way to kill time. Eventually, everything that he did would be governed by people who were higher up in the hierarchy. There would be no true freedom, no way to change anything about the completed system that had been enforced. Zero had been the most successful rebel and yet, the masked man had achieved abysmal results. How foolish.

He desperately yearned for something to stave off this increasing sense of restlessness. Ever since a year ago, he had felt that he was missing a part of himself. Like a chess board that was missing an instrumental piece. Was it a pawn? A bishop? Or maybe a queen? Regardless, he was incomplete. It was a feeling he kept to himself, for no one would understand. Even his dearest younger brother, Rolo.

Looking out the window, he watched two birds fly off into the distance without a care in this world. They weren’t tied to a system like him. Instead of using his abilities for something good, he was stuck in a classroom, listening to a lecture on calculus. 

Shifting his attention back to the class, he raised an eyebrow as someone knocked on the door of the classroom and brought a female student in. After a brief discussion with the teacher, the administrator left. 

“Class, we have a new student with us. Please do introduce yourself.”

Lelouch examined the girl half-heartedly. She had short brown hair and dark blue eyes, a lean athletic figure, and wore an uninterested expression on her face. With that kind of attitude, she would probably be the talk of the class for the next few days.

“Maku Seshiro. Please do take care of me,” she uttered in a monotone, almost robotic voice. 

“Welcome, Maku. Take a seat beside Lelouch at the back of the class.” The teacher gestured to the empty seat beside Lelouch.

Groaning inwardly at the fact that he would lose his privacy, Lelouch watched Maku walk briskly towards him. He gave a small, friendly smile and resumed his reading, hoping that she won’t disturb him. The last time Shirley had sat beside him, he could hardly do anything. 

The teacher continued where she had left off, scribbling an example on the board. Lelouch bent his head down, concentrating on his book but the light tapping on the shared desk made him steal a sideways glance at Maku. Her fingers were drumming a steady rhythm on the desk while her right hand scribbled some music notes on a piece of paper.

Lelouch frowned as he discreetly read the notes she had written. The melody seemed vaguely familiar to him although he could not figure out where he had heard it. It wasn’t the typical genre that he listened to but it was strangely soothing and nostalgic. 

Unable to contain his curiosity, he whispered, “What’s the title of that song?”

Maku stopped writing for a split second. Then instead of answering him, she wrote at the top of page.

_‘Heroes Will Rise’_

 

Class ended after another grueling hour, signaled by the ringing of the bell. Maku got up instantly and made her way to the door. A couple of boys and girls tailed her, eager to find out more about the new addition to the class. Lelouch sighed in relief and tucked his book away into the lockers at the back. Throughout the lesson, Maku had scribbled down the entire song and the more he read it, the more certain he was that he knew it before. 

Shaking off the odd feeling, he exited the classroom, intending to escape from the endless boredom when someone gripped his elbow tightly. He snapped his head to the side, only to find Rolo standing beside him. 

“Oh god, Rolo. Don’t scare me like that. I thought it was Miss Viletta,” he joked.

He expected Rolo to break into a smile but his brother was looking intently at something further down the hallway. Following his gaze, he saw Maku surrounded by a group of senior and junior guys.

“Brother, who’s she?” Rolo asked, his voice slightly tense.

“She’s a new girl in my class,” Lelouch replied, studying Rolo’s reaction.

Before he could question Rolo’s interest in her, a loud cry followed by a thump echoed through the hallway. He spun around to see a guy lying on the floor, curled up in a ball as he clutched his stomach. Lelouch’s eyes widened as he saw Maku land another kick to the guy’s stomach, causing him to wheeze in pain. 

“Don’t touch me again,” she said in a perfectly normal tone as if she were merely greeting him rather than throwing out a threat.

She turned to look at the other guys who immediately cleared a path for her, not wanting to receive the same treatment as their friend. Before she stalked off, she threw a backward glance at Lelouch and he swore he saw her lips curl upwards in a smirk. But it was only for a brief moment and soon, she was headed down the hallway.

“I’ll see you later, brother!” Rolo called out as well, before taking off in the same direction as Maku.

“Wait-“ Lelouch stretched his hand out to stop Rolo but his brother was already running at full speed.

Bothered by the incident, he made his way to the roof where he could be at peace and figure out what was happening. But one thing was clear to him. 

Something was amiss.

 

Sitting on the rooftop with his left leg propped up, he rested his arm on his knee, staring out into the distance while the cogs in his mind turned. He laid out the facts and his observations of the incident earlier before examining each piece of information in turn. The event that stood out the most in his mind was Rolo’s reaction to the new girl, Maku. His younger brother was not very social and could be uncomfortable around new people. But his body language told a different tale just now. It seemed like Rolo recognized Maku.

The mystery only deepened further. The song that he recognized, the smirk Maku had thrown his way before she left…. and that odd sense of familiarity when she had sat beside him. It couldn’t be purely coincidence – the probability of that was way too low. Yet he couldn’t really explain this phenomenon. But then again he couldn’t explain that emptiness he felt either. Could they be related by any chance?

His heart lurched at the possibility, both excitement and anxiety coursing through his body. Maybe Maku held the key to everything. All he needed to do was find a way to approach her and extract the information out of her.

“Lelouch.”

Startled, he turned around, only to see Maku standing a few feet away from him. ‘Speak of the devil,’ he thought as the corner of his mouth curved upwards, for a small victory had been won. She had come to him of her own accord, saving him the trouble of finding an excuse to talk to her.

“Oh hey Maku.” He gave a small wave and got up from his sitting position. “What are you doing here when you’re supposed to be in class?”

Silence greeted him. Laughing slightly, he rubbed his head in faked embarrassment. “Then again, neither am I. Are you here to bring me back to class then?”

She merely walked towards him, her footsteps slow but steady. He studied her every feature, trying to jog his memory as to where he could possibly have seen her. As she came closer, he realized how her lips were pursed together tightly in a straight line and her legs, although steady, wavered just a tiny bit with each step she took. 

He frowned, wondering whether something was the matter with her. When she was within a foot away from him, she looked straight into his eyes. Taken aback by her close contact, he took a step backwards.

“You don’t remember me, Lelouch?” she said softly, the blank look in her eyes now replaced with hurt and misery.

Her question sent shivers down his spine, confirming what he initially thought to be pure conjecture. He struggled to recall something…. anything about her.

“We knew each other when we were young,” she continued, trying to elicit a response from him.

She took a step towards him before swaying unsteadily on her feet. Rushing to her aid, Lelouch held her firmly by the shoulders, planting her firmly on the ground.

“Maku! Are you alright?”

“Lelouch.” She gripped his sleeves tightly, her eyes closing as she tried to steady herself. “You have to remember your real identity.”

“What are you-“

“You have to… For the sake of everyone. For the sake of this world.” Her voice was weak but the strength in her words and conviction was plain to see.

Maku stumbled against him, her head bumping into his chest before she collapsed motionless onto the ground. He stared at her in shock, his feet feeling laden as if they were permanently stuck to the ground. A thousand questions ran through his mind. 

_What was she trying to say? What was his identity? Why was it important to her? What did she know about him? Why was she so weak.._

Coming back to his senses, he knelt down and shook her limp body. “Maku! Can you hear me? Maku!”

Terror struck him when she didn’t respond at all. His heart beat thunderously in his rib cage at the thought of losing his only clue to what was happening.

“Brother!”

His head snapped up at the voice of Rolo’s voice. When did he-

“What is she doing here?” Rolo frantically asked.

“She asked me to come back to class and then she just collapsed,” Lelouch lied effortlessly. “We need to call an ambulance!”

Rolo whipped out his phone and hurriedly dialed a number. Lelouch turned back to Maku and gasped softly as he saw a trail of blood trickling down her chin. It hadn’t been there before – he was sure of that.  He took out his handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed it gently on her face. 

“Ms. Viletta is on her way,” Rolo informed him.

Lelouch snapped, “I thought I told you to call-“

“Lelouch, Rolo!”

Lelouch looked up to see Ms. Viletta running towards them. She inhaled sharply when she saw Maku on the ground and immediately bent down to take a look at her.  

“I’ve called the ambulance. They’ll be here shortly. Meanwhile, Rolo, help me get her downstairs to the infirmary. Lelouch, wait outside for the ambulance and direct them to where we are,” Ms. Viletta ordered.

He nodded and left immediately but more doubts floated in his mind than ever before. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore but he swore he would get down to the bottom of it. 

Rolo, Maku, and him. He would find the connections between them.

That was the key to unlocking his identity.

 

_I failed. Again._

_If only my Geass of Song was more powerful, I wouldn’t have to endure those side effects. I didn’t realize how taxing it would be to put that Rolo kid under my control. It was just keeping him still for a few seconds so I could speak to Lelouch! Why am I so… useless?_

“Maku… whatever happened to you?”

She looked up to see Cornelia standing outside her cell, regarding her with a sympathetic look. Scoffing at her question, she proclaimed loudly, “Zero will rise once again. Mark my words.”

Cornelia remained silent for a moment. When she next spoke, it was without any trace of kindness. “Why are you doing this?”

Maku threw her head back and gave a slow, deep chuckle. “To avenge my father… and my family name.”

The two of them stared at each other for what seemed like ages, as if in silent battle, before Cornelia took her leave. As Cornelia’s footsteps faded in the distance, Maku closed her eyes, strengthening her resolve once again for what was to come.

_Just you wait. Lelouch…_

**Author's Note:**

> Maku belongs to [HappyHomeStucker](http://happyhomestucker.deviantart.com/)  
> Adapted from HappyHomestucker's original story.


End file.
